Joan Eardley

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Margot Sandeman and the Arran Connection

Scottish artist Margot Sandeman (1922-2009) had a long-standing connection with the Isle of Arran. There were many happy childhood holidays with her family on the island. Later came sketching and painting trips with her good friend and fellow Glasgow School of Art student Joan Eardley. Finally, in 1973 Margot and her husband bought one of the little cottages up in High Corrie.

High Corrie is a unique place. The nine cottages that make up this tiny settlement sit tucked into the shelter of the mountain slope and give real insight into how the traditional communities of a bygone era would have looked. The setting – between mountain and sea – is beautiful, the views breathtaking. The High Corrie Burn flows past the clachan, while further up the hillside the rushing White Water makes an ideal picnic spot on the way up Goatfell.

We spent many memorable family holidays there. So it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that Margot Sandeman fell in love with the place. Nor that both Corrie and High Corrie inspired some of her finest works. Or that the Isle of Arran as a whole proved to be a life-long source of creative inspiration for her.

In the little exhibition, No More Sheep, currently on in Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow, a selection of Margot Sandeman’s delicate paintings mourns the passing of a way of life she’d witnessed throughout the long years she’d been coming to Arran. In the early days sheep had played a big part in the life of the islanders and were seen all over the island. By the late 20th century that way of life was passing, if not gone altogether. And through these pictures she mourns that passing.

It’s good to know that Margot Sandeman is still remembered. And while this is only a tiny exhibition, it’s a good point to start from for anyone keen to find out more about Margot’s love of Arran and the places that inspired so much of her work.

No More Sheep: Margot Sandeman on Arran runs at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum until 1st June 2025

The full article is available in issue 103 of iScot Magazine

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Arran: Corrie Connections

Cottages in Corrie

Corrie: It’s been called the prettiest village in Europe and has been both inspiration and home to many artists.  Elegant sandstone villas and sturdy sandstone cottages face out to sea, while the mountains of Arran rise majestically behind.  It’s a beautiful village, one full of history and character, but which only really came into being as we know it today during the major social upheavals of the 19th century.  When the surrounding land was cleared of small farming communities, the inhabitants of these areas had to leave their homes and find work elsewhere.  Some went to the growing industrial cities of the central belt of Scotland, others emigrated to new lands such as Canada.  But some were fortunate enough to be able to take up quarrying and fishing in the new village along the shore, Corrie.

Transport improved and slowly but surely the the famous Clyde steamers made access to the beautiful islands of the Firth of Clyde quicker and easier.  Tourism grew and the villages of Arran became a favourite haunt of the growing urban middles classes from mainland Scotland. Then World War Two brought a new wave of visitors when large numbers of children were evacuated from Glasgow and sent to the relative safety of Arran.  Some found the contrast between town and country too much and went back to the mainland – despite the risk of bombing.  For others it was the start of lifelong connection to Arran and Corrie in particular.

Corrie port

Life is never static and Corrie is a good example of this.  For different people it’s meant different things.  The artist Joan Eardley loved it, as did the Sandeman family.  For the author and illustrator Mairi Hedderwick it was the beginning of a lifelong love of Scottish islands.  While the family of the founders of the great publishing house of Macmillan started life there too. And it’s a place we can make our own connections with today as well.